Many governmental, utility and other agencies rely on automatic location identification (ALI) information to provide up-to-date location and other data related to a calling telephone. An ALI system (also referred to herein as “ALI database”) receives a telephone number (usually the automatic number identification or “ANI”) and uses the telephone number as a key into a regional or national ALI database. The ALI database returns whatever information it has regarding the telephone number. For landline telephone numbers, the data includes an address associated with the telephone number. More recently, the ALI system returns geo-location coordinates of wireless telephones.
In the current art, addresses, geo-location coordinates, or both are commonly used as a key into a mapping database. Such maps help guide the agency to the location of the calling telephone. Thus, map images are an important tool in routing services as quickly and accurately as possible.
A problem in this art, however, is that mapping systems used to provide such services are expensive and usually area specific. Such mapping systems require dedicated software, and sometimes dedicated hardware, to meet the requirements of most ALI systems. Further, each mapping system must be updated frequently to reflect changes in geography, for example, when a new subdivision is started. For many agencies that rely on ALI systems for location information, the costs associated with such mapping systems are prohibitive. Further, a mapping system at one answering point may not have accurate data for a region served by another answering point, which is problematic when the first answering point “covers” for the other answering point (during times of network congestion or outage, for example).